How do you replace the fuel pump located on a Ford Ranger XL?

Answer 1

According to all the manuals, part stores and after looking at my 94 ranger xl

there is only 1 fuel pump, and it is in the tank. However, it is much easier to remove the bed to change as there are only like 4 or 6 bed bolts to take out, then disconnect the tail lights and have a friend help slide it off. It is alot easier, and then you dont have to struggle on your back to try and get the tank back into place, or fight with the straps either.

I agree 100% with the post above. I recently changed my fuel pump, and I did it the way the repair manual said, which was to remove the tank. When I finished, I burned that manual. It was a complete pain in the butt, and I screwed up a couple of lines trying to disconnect them. Next time, I will definitely just remove the bed. That will give you easy access to the top of the tank. Not only can you use both hands, you can actually seewhat you're doing. And there are only three lines you have to disconnect, 2 fuel lines and 1 electrical line, both going to the pump itself. And you don't have to mess with the fuel filler pipe (except the outer end, since it's attached to the side of the bed) or the vapor return line, which are the lines I screwed up (unless you want to clean the tank - see last paragraph).

The electrical connection has tabs that lock it in place, but these can be easily pushed back if you can see what you're doing. The two fuel lines are connected to the pump with compression fittings. You first have to remove clips, and you will probably have to break the clips to remove them, or maybe not, since you can see what you're doing rather than fumbling around by feel like I was doing. But either way, it's no big deal, because the new fuel pump will come with replacement fittings. Once the clips are removed, you need a special tool to release the compression fittings. You can get this tool at any auto parts store. It comes in various forms, but they all work, assuming you have the right size. And speaking of size, the two lines (and their respective compression fittings) are two different sizes, so you will need a compression fitting tool (or a set of them) that will work on both. But, the good thing about the two lines being different sizes is, it's impossible to connect the fuel lines backwards.

You will need a special tool to remove the bed bolts. They are T55 Torx head bolts. You will also need something with a long enough handle to give you plenty of leverage when unscrewing the bolts. There are also several braces connecting the bed to the frame at various points. These are connected with simple hex-head bolts and nuts. And finally, don't forget to disconnect the outer end of the fuel filler pipe (where you fill up the tank). There are 3 small hex-head screws behind the gas-cap door, around the rim of the spout.

Once you get the bed off and the fuel lines and electrical line disconnected, you have to pull out the old fuel pump. The top of the fuel pump is circular, with 4-5 tabs that fit snugly under slots in the rim of the tank. What you have to do is turn the pump counterclockwise about half an inch to get the tabs out from under the slots, then just lift it out. But that half-inch turn is the problem. The manual recommends a special Ford tool, an "O-ring wrench", but you don't have to get that. What you can do instead is take a stick-like object, put one end against the clockwise-ward edge of the vertical part of the tab, and hit the other end of the stick with a hammer, and repeat this, moving from one tab to the next, all the way around - it may take several trips around the rim. You could use a screwdriver as your "stick-like object", but if you use anything metallic, you have to be extremely careful here. You're working around gasoline, and more importantly, gasoline vapors. A stray spark can disfigure you for life. So it's best to use something wooden or plastic as your tab-moving tool. If you insist on using a screwdriver, put something non-metallic, like a folded cloth, between the point of the screwdriver and the tab, to reduce the possibility of sparks.

And speaking of gasoline and sparks, it's a good idea to get the tank as empty as possible before you do anything, as this will reduce the possibility of sparks, not to mention the fumes and skin irritation. And if you end up taking the tank off, it will easier to handle if it's empty.

And it should go without saying that you shouldn't be smoking during this operation.

Also, it is a really good idea to clean the inside of the fuel tank when you replace the pump. You probably have some debris in the tank (and that's probably why the old fuel pump died). So your new fuel pump will have a much shorter life if you don't clean the tank. If you can take the tank off, cleaning it is pretty easy. Just pour out any fuel in it, pour in some clean fuel, slosh it around in the tank, and pour it out, repeating until you get all the debris. If your arm is small enough, you might also want to reach in with a paper towel and wipe down the inside of the tank. I don't know for sure, because I didn't do it this way, but I expect you can remove the tank (from above) after you take off the bed. (If there are cross beams in the way, you may not be able to pull out the tank from above, but you can at least disconnect everything, making it easier to take the tank out from below.) You will have to disconnect the vapor return line, in addition to the three lines that go to the fuel pump. The vapor return line is just a small-diameter hose, with no compression fitting, toward the rear of the tank. It bridges a 3-inch gap between two plastic male fittings, one on the tank and the other at the end of another hose. It may be difficult to disconnect this line because there's a raised ridge encircling the plastic fittings. I had to cut this line to get it off - just couldn't pulll it over the ridge with one hand and no eyes - but maybe you will fare better, being able o see it and get both hands on it. If you end up having to cut it like me, though, just buy a foot of rubber hose (of the same size, of course) at the auto parts store and cut it to fit. As for the fuel filler pipe, I would try to avoid disconnecting the end that attaches to the tank, if you can. There's a screw clamp holding the fuel filler pipe in place around a short stub of a pipe on top of the tank, with a raised ridge. That connection has been in place for years, and even after you get the screw clamp off, the filler pipe has lost a lot of its elasticity, and will be very resistant to the stretching required to get the end over that ridge. It is also much more brittle than when it was installed, and may crack. In fact, it may already be cracked. Like the vapor return line, I had to cut the fuel filler pipe to get it off. That's when I found out that Ford charges over $500 for a replacement fuel filler pipe. So I "fixed" my old fuel filler pipe with metal exhaust pipe, large-diameter radiator hose, and screw clamps (after I did this, a friend that I had complained to about it found a website where you could buy the fuel filler pipe for $75). But the point is, avoid disconnecting the fuel filler pipe from the tank if you can, and if you can't, be very careful not to mess it up.